December 2003 Archives

I spent New Year's Eve fixing the toilet in the front bathroom.

Early this morning, Jason woke me up to say the toilet was clogged up. He had turned off the water valve behind the toilet, thankfully before it overflowed. I used the plunger to clear the clog, but my attempts to turn the water valve back on resulted in only a sore wrist.

Jason also tried to turn the valve. We looked at each other, and decided it was really stuck. I got a pipe wrench out of the garage, and used it to turn the handle of the shut-off valve. The handle started to turn, so I kept going - until the entire valve came out of the housing, flooding the bathroom with water. Jason held a towel over the stream while I went out front to turn off the main valve.

Things got worse before they got better. On my first trip to OSH, I got a new valve stem and a nice, new white wooden toilet seat. Things never work out perfectly the first time - the valve was the wrong size. Justin and Jeremy both had outings scheduled with their girlfriends, so I put the old valve back in and turned on the main water valve so they could take showers.

I had to wait for Jeremy to get back from his trip to the Gene Autry Museum with Sarah - I'd left the OSH receipt in the car, and needed it to return the new but mis-sized replacement stem. Once I got back to OSH, the return process was smooth. I showed my old frozen stem to the plumbing employee, and he said I needed to replace the whole valve unit - stem and housing. There were way too many variations, so I had to remove the housing and bring it back to make sure I got the right one. The plumbing guy recommended a smaller pipe wrench when I told him about the tight fit behind the toilet, so I got a 10" and headed home.

The smaller wrench worked well. Then, it was back to OSH. The same plumbing guy set me up with the right part (it takes only a 1/4 turn to shut off, instead of the seemingly endless cranking of the old one). I got a new supply line while I was at it - I was concerned about the condition of the old one, and wanted to be able to finish the job and forget about it for a few years if possible.

With all the right parts in hand, everything went together relatively quickly. It took a few tries to get the tank valve tightened right, but was otherwise smooth.

I put the new toilet seat on, cleaned the floor, and put everything back in proper order. After a day of turmoil, it looks pretty good in there now.

Jeremy and I finished packing up the christmas decorations from inside the house. We're planning on relocating the shed, so most of the boxes went up in the attic, with a few leftovers in the shed. Things are almost back to normal.

The 2003 layout of christmas items.

I've been somewhat depressed the last couple of days. A disturbing phone call brought back some feelings that I thought were finally behind me, I've been having continuing problems with headaches, and my dad is still in the hospital.

Looking for something to fill the time while the laundry spins, I did one of those simple tasks in life that shouldn't fell good, but did. I shined my shoes.

I went shopping yesterday - potentially expensive when you're depressed, but I kept to my list - and bought a little travel-size shoe shine kit. I have one pair of shinable shoes - a nice pair of black loafers that I wear to work once or twice a week. I noticed a few weeks ago that they needed a nice polish, but never seemed to collect the necessary tools. With my new kit in hand, I was all set.

They look nice - not too shiny, but just about right. Concentrating on the nooks, crannies, and seams was a nice diversion from my troubles.

Maybe I'll make a Pepsi can stove later this afternoon.

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We had my family over for Christmas Eve dinner. I made a turkey and all the fixin's, including home-made cheese buns, and the food turned out well, if I say so myself.

During dinner, it was obvious that my dad was not feeling well. He had been to the doctor's a couple of times in the previous week, once for severe back pain, and then a few days later with heavy fluid retention in his legs. My sister and I agreed that he was going to the hospital for a quick check, and she drove him over there. The ER doctor at San Gabriel Community wanted his prescription chart, so I picked it up at his house and drove it over.

The next morning, we had a nice family Christmas morning. I went to visit my dad and give my sister a chance to sleep - he had spent all night on the crummy ER gurney waiting for a bed in the ICU to open up. My sister came back to the hospital about 3:00, and Carole and the kids came by then to visit my dad.

We all left for Big Bear around 3:45pm. It was raining hard - I had hoped to get started much earlier to beat the weather up the hill, but it wasn't meant to be. Jason drove his car to Upland; Rob and Yvette were bringing him back that night, and this saved them the trip to Temple City and back home. He and I drove up in Carole's rental truck, and Carole took Jeremy and Justin in my car.

It rained hard all the way up the 330 and 18, but never quite turned to snow. The whole way up was strewn with rocks from the mountain sides - some small, many quite large. We made it through unscathed, and pulled in at Pat and Harvey's house around 6:30. Pat had planned to server dinner at 5:00, but it's really a big operation to make a holiday dinner for 25, so we didn't actually sit down until 7:15.

Dinner was nice. Gifts were according to plan - watching the little kids open is always fun, and the adult gift exchange went very well. I wound up sleeping on the floor; my back is still killing me.

We left about 11:00 the next morning, with my nephew William in tow. It had snowed overnight, and the plows had left a couple of inches of snow from the house to the dam, but I took slow and managed to make it to the dam without a problem. The bigger plows and heavier traffic kept the rest of way mostly free of snow, except for a few areas that are shaded throughout the day, which were not a problem.

The CHP and sheriff had setup a chain control point just south of Running Springs for the northbound traffic, causing a 6 mile backup. We smugly shook our heads at their bad luck, but karma took her revenge. About 5 miles from the base of the hill, just north of the ranger station, a three-car accident closed the road in both directions. We parked in the middle of the road (one lane in each direction, with no shoulder) for an hour and forty-five minutes while the ambulances and tow trucks did their thing.

The rest of the way home was uneventful. After dropping William off at home in Glendora, we got home about 3:30, just in time for Jeremy to get to work.

I checked in with my sister, and she updating me on Dad's situation. The doctor's had decided his main problem was a low heart rate - without sufficient beats, his blood pressure dropped, and he wasn't able to clear out fluids from collecting in his legs. He had a pacemaker installed late in the afternoon on Friday. He had hoped to check out on Saturday, but some post-op checks showed a touch of pneumonia and some severe anemia so he's stuck until Monday or Tuesday. We made plans to break him out on Wednesday night regardless of doctor's advice, so he can watch USC in the Rose Bowl on Thursday afternoon.

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line

I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you
Because you're mine, I walk the line

As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I've known proves that it's right
Because you're mine, I walk the line

You've got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can't hide
For you I know I'd even try to turn the tide
Because you're mine, I walk the line

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line

Johnny Cash

Things are coming together for Christmas. Presents are all wrapped (Carole's doing some last-last minute shopping, but she'll wrap those), and I'm all set for tomorrow's Christmas Eve dinner with my dad, sister, and nephew. I need to put the turkey in the oven around 9:00am.

The kids went out and did some shopping of their own this afternoon. Jeremy and Justin are going to hit the mall for some of that way-too-late shopping in the morning.

I hope Mandy likes the scissors Carole got for her!

Sarah, Jeremy's girlfriend and honorary member of the family, has strep throat and pink eye. I told her to get better or I'd be mad.

Update: She went to Urgent Care on Monday morning, was diagnosed with strep throat and pink eye, got some prescriptions, and by late afternoon she was feeling a lot better. Jeremy went over to visit, and they put up some of the glow-in-the-dark stars Jeremy had given her for her room.

I spent today's lunch hour getting to, into, out-of, and from Fry's in Burbank. I was able to cross off a lot of items from my shopping list, but it's still an ordeal.

While you shop, you keep an informal running total in your head. Without fail, this total is far less than the actual amount that the checker announces after it's all been rung up. The difference is more than just the tax - I think while we shop we tend to round amounts down, instead of up.

Tomorrow, I'm going to organize the cupboard over the washing machine, the cupboard in the back bathroom, and maybe do a little work on the patio. If the day is especially nice, maybe I'll take a ride.

I

To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard
him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and
predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any
emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one
particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably
balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and
observing machine that the world has seen; but as a lover, he would
have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the
softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable
things for the observer--excellent for drawing the veil from men's
motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such
intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament
was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt
upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a
crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more
disturbing that a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet
there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene
Adler, of dubious and questionable memory.

October 1, 2003
By Helen Bradley

Have you ever sat in front of your monitor pulling your hair out trying to identify duplicate entries in a list? If so, you should learn about Microsoft Excel's array formulas. In fact, you can use array formulas to perform calculations that are otherwise impossible in Excel, and you can enhance the power of some of the program's existing functions.

• School of Rock soundtrack
• Diary of Alicia Keys
• Blink 182
• Hank Williams, Sr.
• Johnny Cash
• Weakerthans
• Eels

The kids and I went to see Return of the King this afternoon. We'd made arrangements to meet Mandy and her dad at the Hastings - Jeremy got there first, so we all went in on his coattails.

The movie lived up to its reviews - an old-fashioned epic, where the action is used to highlight the universal truths about love, friendship, and honor.

A kid in the row behind jabbered through the whole movie. His parents and I exchanged dirty looks on the way out of the theater. It's not the kid's fault - his parents need to teach him that it's inconsiderate to disturb so many people's viewing pleasure, and that questions and comments can really wait until the end of the movie.

Mandy's dad seemed nice - apparently a big movie fan. We all bemoaned the crummy seats at the Hastings; a 3+ hour movie raises the punishment level on your back to neo-medieval in scope.

Over the last few days, it's mostly been just me and Justin for dinner, and I made various dishes that he enjoys. Tuesday was the first night in a long time that we could all make it for dinner at home, and Sarah was available too, so I decided to make meat loaf.

The original plan was to eat about 7:15, when Jason was expecting to be back from a meeting at school. His meeting got cancelled (he was there, but no one else), so I moved the schedule up to 6:45.

I started with a pre-made meatloaf from the service butcher at How's, and added a few of my own touches. We also had mashed potatoes, carrots, and Hawaiian rolls. Dessert was home-made brownies and vanilla ice cream.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it - but it makes a terrific mess in the kitchen.

Justin is getting over his cold, slowly but surely. We made plans to meet Mandy and her dad at the Hastings for this afternoon's showing of LOTR:ROTK.

Karen called, and asked me to help her post a payment for her. Here's the confirmation details, in case she needs it later:

Michael stopped by tonight. He had come by earlier this morning to pick up some negatives of his head shots, and thought the house looked unnaturally empty. He was doing some shopping, and stopped by just now on his way up to Big Bear to see how we're doing.

The house is emptier, but we like it well enough. It was nice to talk with Michael, though. He's off reserve at the airline, and starts classes at the Groundlings in mid-January. He's working at Crystal's restaurant, and looks to be in good shape. I reminded him that he's welcome here whenever he likes, and he was geniunely appreciative.

Carole called, and tried to convince him to stay here tonight - to avoid the icy roads on the way up the hill. He was polite, but firm, and left about 9:30.

Photos I took of sister-in-law Yvette's condo in Upland.

Carole needed someone to take pictures of her new listing - new sister-in-law's Yvette's condo in Upland. Jeremy was her first choice, but he's under the weather, so I was drafted. I would have done it for nothing (especially for Rob and Yvette), but to keep things on the up-and-up, we agreed on a nominal fee for my services.

Instead of fixed pixel widths, is em's the way to go? The page would shrink or expand based on the user's selected font size.

I've been giving whole blood at the local Red Cross chapter for a few years now. Back in October, they handed me a pamphlet on apheresis, or platelet donation. I sent in the response card, and after a few problems with low iron levels, I finally made it to my first session early this morning.

After completing the paperwork, they asked me to pick out a movie, and we got started. With apheresis, blood is drawn from one arm, passes through a machine that separates out the "product", and the remaining blood is sent back through the other arm. Apparently the anti-coagulant used during processing reduces your calcium level, so I was given a couple of over-the-counter Tums to chew and swallow before they started. (A by-product of the reduced calcium levels is a tingling sensation around your lips and mouth - which I definitely noticed at the end.)

They started the movie - Two Weeks Notice - and after a short delay the nurse inserted the two IV's. I normally donate whole blood from my left arm without much discomfort, but this time the left arm insertion area stung quite a bit. The right arm was no problem, after the initial sting. (The prick on my left ring finger was still the most painful part of it.)

Then, I just relaxed and watched the movie, while the machine did it's thing. With about 20 minutes left in the movie, the nurse told me I was done, and they closed everything up. I got bright red wrapping over the gauze on both arms - whoo-hoo.

All in all, it took about an hour and forty-five minutes, and it was actually pretty pleasant. Two Weeks Notice is on HBO this week, so I'll catch the end of it in a day or two. I'd seen it in the theaters, so I wasn't too stressed about missing the ending.

I'm scheduled to go back on the Monday after Christmas.

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"Justice has come to court today," Bill Janklow's daughter said in the Flandreau, S.D., courtroom Monday to the daughter of the man Janklow's speeding car killed on Aug. 16. Indeed it had, in the persons of 12 jurors who determined that being a congressman, a former governor and a hometown hero did not put Janklow above the law.

Four guilty counts -- second-degree manslaughter, reckless driving, running a stop sign, speeding -- brought the curtain down on a South Dakota political career of epic proportion. Janklow announced shortly after the verdict was read that he would resign his seat in the U.S. House on Jan. 20, the day he is scheduled to be sentenced.

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South Dakota congressman facing jail term

FLANDREAU, South Dakota (AP) --Rep. Bill Janklow announced Monday he will resign from Congress after being convicted earlier in the day of manslaughter in a collision that killed a motorcyclist.

"I wish to inform you that because of present circumstances, I will be unable to perform the duties incumbent on me in representing the people of South Dakota as their U.S. representative," Janklow wrote in a letter that he said was to be sent to House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Tuesday.

"Therefore I wish to inform you that I will resign from the House of Representatives, effective January 20, 2004." It is the same date Janklow is scheduled to be sentenced for his manslaughter conviction.

December 7, 2003
Groundhog Almighty
By ALEX KUCZYNSKI

Original article

A new movie series from the Museum of Modern Art, "The Hidden God: Film and Faith," features some pretty brooding stuff. There's a 1955 Danish movie about a man who thinks he is Jesus Christ, an Ingmar Bergman pastiche about a tormented pastor, a Roberto Rossellini movie about monks. These are, of course, the "intellectual with a capital I" films that audiences might expect at a religious-theme retrospective organized by a major museum. Subtitles and all that fancy stuff.

I went out to Claremont this afternoon to see my niece Samantha play soccer. Her dad Cary coaches her U-14 team, and today was the first playoff game.

I had refereed a BU-14 game at Live Oak Park at 9:00 - also a playoff game. Vinnie Hughes, who broke his collarbone a few weeks back, couldn't play, and his team lost 4-1. I got some good exercise, and only the winning coach complained, so it was a good morning.

Jeremy and Sarah went out to the Getty Museum for one of his school projects, and I let them borrow my car, so I rode my motorcycle out to see Sam play.

Sam played well, finishing up as keeper in the fourth quarter, but her team lost 4-1. (The center referee made a mistake on the opponent's third goal which seemed to take the wind out Sam's team.) Sam's junior high pastor from church came too, and we had some nice chats. Jake was silly, as usual, but John kept him in check.

Justin went to Peter's for the night - he got a ride from Spencer. Jason took his car in for an oil change and some minor fixit checks, but they didn't get his car done in time, so they sprang for a rental. Jeremy had a $63 night last night, which is apparently amazing for a non-special night.

Over Thanksgiving, my sister and I were trying to figure out how to describe the daughter of our cousin's daughter. We gave up quickly, but I was thinking about it this morning, and decided to look it up.

First, I found a description of some of the terms. A cousin is a person in your family that shares the same grandparents as you. A second cousin shares the same great-grandparents; a third and fourth cousin shares the same great-great-grandparents or great-great-great-grandparents.

Removed

The word "removed" is used to describe a relationship in which two people are from different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents), so the word "removed" is not used to describe that relationship.

The words "once removed" mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother's first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents, and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals "once removed."

Twice removed means there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than the first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.

So, the granddaughter of my cousin has a common ancestor in my grandfather, who is her great-great-grandfather. By my reckoning, this makes her my first-cousin, twice removed.

Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson. Last seen in northeast Ohio. Do not approach.

BY JAMES RENNER

Then the man notices the large 4X4 truck parked in front of him. There it is -- that mocking decal, stuck on the back window. It's Calvin, urinating on a Ford logo, grinning with gleeful malice.

Jeremy and Sarah went to the LA Zoo for a school project.

I wrote a script to convert the albums generated by the free generator into a site-specific format, using the standard style sheets. Because of this change, albums no longer open in a new browser window.

Outside Magazine, December 1998

The List

A few days ago I added style selection to the main page of the site. Currently, each alternate style sheet is a full copy of the main site, with each alternate style having minor changes to body background and possibly the nav bar background color. I still need to weed down the alternate sheets to only the changes, since the main sheet's entries will still be in place even when an alternate sheet is in use.

I also added a lame but functional favicon.

I added some CSS and made some minor changes to the MT templates to highlight the current page on the top nav bar. The changes are based on the following article:

highlighting current page with css

Ideally, the nav link for the current page would be un-clickable, but that's not possible using CSS. A little PHP or JavaScript may be necessary.